The Coalition: NHS

The Coalition: our programme for government. May 2010

Some key quotes:

We will stop the top-down reorganisations of the NHS that have got in the way of patient care. We are committed to reducing duplication and the resources spent on administration, and diverting these resources back to front-line care.

We will significantly cut the number of health quangos.

We will cut the cost of NHS administration by a third and transfer resources to support doctors and nurses on the front line.

We will strengthen the power of GPs as patients’ expert guides through the health system by enabling them to commission care on their behalf.
 
We will strengthen the role of the Care Quality Commission so it becomes an effective quality inspectorate. We will develop Monitor into an economic regulator that will oversee aspects of access, competition and price-setting in the NHS.

We will publish detailed data about the performance of healthcare providers online, so everyone will know who is providing a good service and who is falling behind.

We are committed to the continuous improvement of the quality of services to patients, and to achieving this through much greater involvement of independent and voluntary providers.

We will give every patient the power to choose any healthcare provider that meets NHS standards, within NHS prices. This includes independent, voluntary and community sector providers.

We will promote small business procurement, in particular by introducing an aspiration that 25% of government contracts should be awarded to small and medium-sized businesses and by publishing government tenders in full online and free of charge.